If I were the Lions, I'd wait to draft a QB until next year. Stafford has some MAJOR question marks, decent potential, but why not wait for your pick of Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow, and Colt McCoy? Especially considering they have 2 legitimate NFL starters on their entire defense (Ernie Sims and Cory Redding).

First thing I'd do is call up the Bengals, offer up the #1 for #6 and #38 (and that's low on the "value" chart). I think they'd bite on that - the Bengals get their pick of the best OT's on the board.

Then I call the Packers and offer up #20 and #38 for #9.

The draft:

#6 - Malcolm Jenkins, CB, OSU
#9 - BJ Raji, DT, BC
#33 - Brian Cushing, OLB, USC
#65 - Juaquin Iglesias, WR, OK
#82 - Nick Harris, SS, OK


I bet all those picks start next year, and at least gets their D on the road to respectability before they take their franchise QB

Without going into details about specific players (because I have been terrible at following college football the last couple of years). I will just provide what would be my basic strategy.

In the upcoming draft I would draft heavy on the lines both offensive and defensive. Also I would trade down if possible. Our lines aren't great but the Lion's lines are abysmal. It won't matter too much who they have at QB or RB if they can't protect them. I just think how great Kevin Jones could've been if he had some help from their lines, thank god Millen was around when Jones was with them.

Orlovsky would be serviceable if he had decent protection. I would wait on drafting a QB with a high pick for a couple of seasons because they tend to garner very high salaries and would keep some cap space free so they could build up their roster, and again a young qb will not develope if he doesn't have protection. Get a solid OL established, then see about grooming a guy if Orlovsky doesn't pan out.

Also I would go after a pass-rushing d-end or two in FA.

I could type more but I really don't want to write a novel when talking about the Lion's issues 'cause it certainly would be necessary to cover them all.

Remember it's Jim Schwartz in charge; he's a defensive-minded coach. The Lions' defense was historically bad last year; the offense merely terrible. It should be possible to show a huge, tangible improvement on D in one season by moulding it into a unit that's simply below average, rather than shamefully inept. Follow the Parcells-in-Miami blueprint: cut half the starters, replace them with young, low-cost free agents who have been stuck halfway down the depth chart in moderately successful programs (San Diego, Carolina, Green Bay) and who will jump at the opportunity to start; sign them to short-term, incentive-laden, money-upfront contracts. Keep a low profile in the offseason.

I doubt the Lions can trade out of the first pick, so use it on the best player available; there's nowhere on this roster that can't be upgraded. Trade out of the second and third rounds and stock up on lower-round picks. Detroit has probably five or six serviceable starters on offense, maybe three on defense (assuming Bodden can play in Schwartz's scheme), and only one true star: Calvin Johnson. Keep Johnson happy; he is your Larry Fitzgerald, your Roddy White. You're going to be passing a lot anyway, so your biggest splash in free agency should be to sign a workhorse RB (Sproles) who can also catch short passes. Leave WR alone for now to mark a break with the Millen era.

Lastly, Detroit has to win one of its first four games. Preferably at home. The longer the 'streak' goes on, the more debilitating it becomes. It's ok to win early games and then fade (blame it on injuries). Expectations are low; the schedule has thrown up St Louis, Seattle, Cincinnati, the NFC North twice over; seven wins buys Schwartz two more years for sure. If he can't win seven, then at least put an end to some other humiliating streaks. Be competitive on Thanksgiving. Don't concede any moronic safeties. Win in Wisconsin.

Gulp.

I would put everyone on the block including Johnson. That team needs a lot of high picks to get some good players in there. Just gut the team and rebuild from the ground up.

When you have an opportunity to select a QB as talented as Strafford you must take him. THe problem with the Lions and for that matter many bad team they throw young QB's to the wolves and shatter their confidence . The Lions would be wise to sit Strafford for the 1st year minimum and after that pick solidify your line. Remember they have another pick in the 1st round.

You can not pass up a talented QB you may never get the shot again. Strafford has it all to be a sucessful QB in the NFL he just will need time. Sign Kitna or another vet for ar year and ride the wave but dont pass Strafford up he is too damn good.

I like your idea of trading down a lot, but if I had the #6 and #9, I'd go with best Left Tackle available at #6, be it Andre Smith (possible) Michael Oher, etc... and at #9 I'd draft Beanie Wells. After that, it'd be ALL defense.

And then yeah, do whatever I can next year to draft McCoy or Graham Harrell, two guys I think have the best pro potential.

Oooh, I like this question. And it is definitely a tough one! Rebuilding the Lions is only one step above taking over an expansion franchise. Anyway, the one positive is that most of the players that are any good are young, C. Johnson, K. Smith, E. Simms, C. Redding. There is some veteran talent that is ok in the short term as well: J. Hanson, J. Backhus, J. Kitna/D. Culpepper, L. Bodden, P. Lennon. The rest of the team is subject to complete replacement.

The surest way to compete in the NFL is with a competant defense. Defensive starters are easier to obtain as their isn't as much of a learning curve compared to QB, WR, TE, or OL. So I would focus my FA focus on defense while developing offensive talent via the draft. Obviously obtaining a Haynesworth, peppers, or the like is unlikely. But a Rocky Bernard, Marcus Tubbs, Justin Miller, Jermaine Phillips, or Mike Peterson are all possible low to mid cost additions that would upgrade their positions considerably. On offense I'd target a Jahri Evans or Pete Kendall and then spend the top pick on an OT. I'd then look at trading the 20th pick for an early 2nd and 3rd. Now, take the best available player regardless of position (ok, except K).

My FA would look something like this:
DT Marcus Tubbs
LB Mike Peterson
G Pete Kendall

My draft would look something like this:

1A Andre Smith OT
1B Trade for 2nd and 3rd
2A Paul Kruger DE
2B DJ Moore CB
3A Emanuel Cook SS
3B Jared Cook TE

Most of these will start, making my first game starting line up as:

WR: C. Johnson, S. McDonald
TE: J. Cook
RB: K. Smith
FB: J. Felton
QB: J. Kitna
OL: J. Backus, E. Muliato, D. Raiola, P. Kendall, A. Smith

DL: P. Kruger, C. Redding, M. Tubbs, D. White
LB: E. Sims, M. Peterson, A. Lewis
CB: L. Bodden, D. Moore
S: E. Cook, D. Smith

Is this perfect? Of course not. But I believe this roster would at least provide 4 - 6 wins with more improvement from guys like G. Cherilus, D. Stanton/D. Orlovsky, and D. Bullucks.

Let's see Detroit currently has two 1st and two 3rds. I would trade out of my current position to whoever wants to make a deal. Drop back to ten for a 1 and a 2. I would then trade down again to a 15-19 for another 1 and a combo of picks (1 and 2 or a 1,3,4,5)

I would like to have two 1 st rd picks (15-25 range), two or three 2nd rd picks and at least three picks in the 3rd an 3 4th rd. picks

First, what's right with Detroit. Not much hence trading down to acquire some players and talent. I may be in the minority on liking Orlovsky as a QB. My first two picks would be a RB (Greene from Iowa) and the guard from Oklahoma.

Rd. two, my QB needs a safety outlet, Chase Coffman fits the bill. Second pick, DL and third pick in Rd. 2, I pick me the best Tackle available.

Rd. three, Cornerback (BA), Safety (BA), Linebacker (BA)

Rd. four, Pat White (QB), a route running WR, DE

I suspect I come away with 7-8 starters from this draft. It's like chicago politics, vote early and often, except trade often and get lots of picks! I build my team around Orlovsky. Build it and they will come.
This team will not come back quickly if they don't have a plan. Drafting one or two players in Rd. 1 will not build this team quickly. They need lots of talent and players. A serious upgrade.

Detroit's not in as much bad shape you think they are. Overlooking their roster their backfield looks fine and receivers are plentiful. Their offensive line is better then ours, as Backus and Ralola are two of the best at their positions. And from what I heard from Lions fans this year, that rookie Cherilus played really well.

Their defensive line needs the most help, and the only bright spot is that rookie kid, Avril, who looks like he's going to be a pretty good DE in the future. Linebackers can hold their own and their safeties could probably get by another year as well.

Their weak spots on offense would have to be quarterback. I don't see Orlovsky sticking around and neither Henson. Stanton might stay as a solid #3 backup and Culpepper has one more year. So I would be drafting a quarterback in either round one or two for 2010 play, letting him sit behind Culpepper for a full year.

Where I'd really focus my draft at is in the trenches. The two guard spots are the only weaknesses on the offensive line. The defensive line though is probably the biggest need on the whole team. You can't bank on Avril's upside but you still need an opposite threat. Plus the defensive tackles are filled with nothing buy journeyman and busts.

If I could possibly pick up a solid corner in free agency, I would. I'd also be on the look out for a quality tight end who really excels in blocking and can go out for the occasional pass. So this would be my plan...

In free agency, target a low profile starter at the corner position. Find a tight end who is very good at blocking more so then catching a pass. If I could find a quality OLB to challenge Nece, I'd also go for that.

In the draft, I'd really focus my attention in the trenches. Especially since the offensive line seems to be a couple starting guards away from being one of the best. Looking at RB carries for Detroit, the majority of them went down the middle. So this further enhances my theory of the guards being top priority. The defensive line also allowed the most yards per carry with 5.38. So targeting big, beefy defensive tackles doesn't seem like a bad idea and hopefully nabbing a good pass rush threat in mid/late rounds.

I don't recall the Lions structure off hand, but i would rebuild the same way the Packers rebuilt after 20 years of futilty. Bring in a strong GM. Start at the top. Everyone says the words "we are commited to winning." Wolf meant it, walked it, and eventually people bought into it.

You hire the right GM, who will in turn hire the right scouts and front office people. He will hire the right coach, who will in turn hire the right coaching staff. That's how you turn it around.

Wow!!! The Lions have a better offensive line than the Packers'. Thats quite a stretch. Honestly Jon Kitna would have been pretty good if they just protect him. They would have won a couple of games this year had Kitna been playing. The problem is that no matter what QB is back there they are going to get sacked 50-60 times with that line they have. By what measurement do the Lions have a better offensive line. The stats speak for themselves.

The Packers allowed MUCH fewer sacks ran the ball MUCH better than the Lions. How can the Lions have a better offensive line?

I should re phrase that, their offensive line is looking better then ours at this point. I would definitely agree their line played worse then ours (not much worse though...) but I was saying that when looking into the future.

The Lions have one of the best tackles in the NFL in Backus, they also have one of the best centers in Ralola. The rookie tackle they got also turned heads as well. Their guards are the only 2 weak spots it seems like, while the Packers have 2 rapidly aging tackles (one may not be back, so there's a hole), a center stuck in a ditch, and an underachieving prospect in Colledge; and only God knows who's going to step up at the other guard position.

I think the Lions may have trouble finding a trade partner for that #1 pick if they're so inclined. There isns't a clear cut #1 or even a top 3 player that someone has to have. Stafford, Crabtree? They picked a bad year to be the worst.

agreed, and i doubt anyone in the top 10 really wants to move up either. the talent level looks pretty even among that crowd.

if detroit can move down, they should, but the financial risk up there is so great. i don't think anyone in that top tier is that much better than the others to justify the cost and risk.

re-building is going to be tough for them, and they'll have to overpay big time for just about any FAs they want to bring in.

Jeff Backus: # of sacks allowed the last 3 years: 9.25, 15.5, 9.25.

One of the best tackles in the NFL???? Come on Vots!

Those numbers don't tell the story. How many of those sacks are because he has no help? How many of those sacks are because DET's QB's aren't that good of getting rid of the ball? How many of those sacks are the product of no RB's? I don't think I should have to justify Backus as a good tackle.

I guess when I think of the "top tackles in the game," I don't think of guys who, over the last 3 years have allowed on average over 10 sacks a year, but "have a great excuse for it."

Living in Detroit, I see/listen to the team perspective, Backus is soooo overrated. Many don't see him anything more than average. He was highly overpaid by Millen. Also, the center is nothing to write home about. As for the rookie RT, Cherilus could not beat out one of the biggest whipping players of the time, Foster until mid season. The rookie may develop, but the OL is in horrible shape.

Remember when Wells was to take over for the veteran C. At that time, GB had what many considered an extremely strong OL at both Tackles and C. We "only" needed to bring in/develop our Gs. Well, that has taken considerable time and out C uses everything he has and the tackles are not aging well. Let's face it, when Sapp cheapshotted Clifton, everyone should have known that his career would be greatly shortened.

Backus is one of the very best (left guards playing at left tackle) in the entire league.

Now that I can buy.

Heavy D, you've nailed it. Backus is a good player but a terrible LT. He is playing out of position and as such, awfully overpaid (and vice versa) thanks to Matt Millen. Cherilus couldn't crack the starting line-up early on, but his ceiling is high (Jagodzinski thought so anyway).

The Lions fans that I talk to seem to believe that it's the opposite: the QBs have been good, but they don't have enough time to do anything. My vote is: none of them are incredibly good.

Anyway...I like the Schwartz hire. If anybody is going to get them in the right direction, this is the coach, right here. I wouldn't try to make a huge splash in FA this year. They would have to dramatically overpay to get any top player to come to the worst team in the NFL. I would follow the same path that ammek described, with low-cost backups who just want a chance to start. On to the draft...

1a. Eugene Monroe, OT, Virginia -- Franchise OT.
1b. Josh Freeman, QB, Kansas St -- I like him more than Sanchez. He may not be special, but he'll be solid for a long time.
2. Louis Delmas, S, Western Michigan -- Not high on him, but the Michigan native will bring intensity to the team.
3a. Phillip Hunt, DE, Houston -- They want to pressure the QB, and Hunt had 32.5 sacks in the past three seasons.
3b. Brennan Marion, WR, Tulsa -- They've purged their WR corps since the Millen firing. Marion is a threat to score whenever he touches the ball.

I would try to fill out the rest of the draft with OGs and LBs.

It seems like their current plan is to blow the whole thing up and start over:

http://www.profootballtalk.com/2009/02/10/...mes-in-detroit/

Not a bad idea.

Sure Schwartz is a good hire, but the Leos have not had any resemblance of a GM since the 1950s.

You mean since Ford became the owner?

In Lions country, it's widely believed that he's the problem, and that things won't change until he dies. My response on rebuilding the Lions was almost: "Sell the team and move them to LA."

Sure the owner is always going to be at the end of the symptom. GB had the same situation, IMHO prior to Wolf. Before hiring Ron Wolf as GM, I felt that GB brought in HC/GM types that did what they were given/directed. Make money for the team, don't need to win a lot and don't have a lot of freedom. GB made money for years, but it was not until the BOD decided they wanted more that they hired Wolf as GM and gave him freedom and trust to bring in a winner. Maybe this is not true, it seems that way for me. The GM needs to be entrusted with bringing in a winner, not just constrained and restrained by the BOD. This is the same elsewhere, except the BOD is one person who owns the team.